A Story Unfolds
by deathwish cross
Summary: After 13 years, she's back. Things are bound to change. Rated T 'cause I said so.
1. Chapter 1: That Summer Night

* * *

**A/N:** This is my very first fanfic... please be nice!

* * *

**CHAPTER I**

* * *

It was a warm night in Konoha, and there was a celebration. There were fireworks, drinking, dancing, drinking, general partying and _more_ drinking, as Tsunade insisted on buying enough sake to drown the whole village. The people were aware of this.

_Why_ she was doing this, however, very few knew.

The celebration went on all day, and all night. The streets were crowded, namely because our big-busted Hokage, in a fit of drunkenness, declared Konoha open to all the other villages for the day.

"Not to worry," she slurred. "I made sure there's enough sake for _everyone_!" She slumped on the desk after saying so, and had to be carried to her room.

This was strange of Tsunade- normally she was a tightwad, and hogged all the sake. But all the people were grateful, and too busy having fun to even care.

That was why the streets were littered with sake bottles, many levels of drunken people, and unconscious bastards.

Amidst all the chaos and confusion, a lone kunoichi with short black hair, a blank forehead protector and dragging behind her a large box entered the village, unnoticed because everyone was either too drunk or didn't find anything unusual at all.

She walked down the streets of Konoha, not bothering to ask directions- she knew exactly where she was going.

* * *

That same night, Kakashi was on his way to Ichiraku, orange book in hand.

He didn't even look up from his book to think up a good excuse to his team for being late. _I'll just probably get yelled at again,_ he thought. _Wait, I've got one! _He smiled under his mask.

_This one's foolproof…_

* * *

Team seven had been waiting for _two hours_.

"Kakashi-sensei's late again! And I'm hungry!" a very upset Naruto exclaimed.

"Yeah, he promised to treat _us_ this time!" a very flustered Sakura followed. Inner Sakura had a more violent- no, murderous- thought.

Sasuke stayed silent, but his stomach didn't. Unconsciously fingering a kunai, he raised an eyebrow at his team mates and let out a "Hn". This one meant, _I know that. Shut up. _

He pulled out the kunai and was about to throw it at Naruto when Kakashi entered the restaurant.

He smirked. _A better target_.

Naruto and Sakura noticed his presence and promptly began yelling at him, after which a kunai nearly hit their sensei.

He dodged it, of course, and hit the wall instead… all eyes turned toward Sasuke- who was still glaring at the spiky-haired jounin, Sharingan activated.

"Sasuke, it's not nice to try to kill your sensei." Kakashi said, ignoring the murderous looks shot at him by his students. "Besides, I have a valid excuse."

Three pairs of eyes narrowed. "Which would be…"

"I was on a mission. Honest." Of course, though, he had his fingers crossed behind him.

The three didn't notice this and were sated, while their sensei was happy to have neither been injured nor killed.

"Now, are we going to eat or what?"

* * *

**A/N:** So there you go... the first chapter of my first story. Like it? Hate it? Please R&R!! Arigato!!

* * *


	2. Chapter 2: Of Love and Fangirlism

**CHAPTER II**

* * *

Naruto was halfway through his 20th bowl of ramen when Temari, Shikamaru, Hinata, Chouji, Shino, Kiba and of course, Akamaru walked in, followed by a horde of Sasuke fangirls. Inner Sasuke cringed, and he walked outside- there was least damage that way.

The fangirls busied themselves while the others conversed.

"Hinata-chan! How's training?" Naruto asked in between slurps. Said girl blushed profusely. "I-it's going f-fine, N-naruto-kun…"

She mustered enough courage to sit beside him, all the while playing with her fingers. _Now's my chance!_ "B-by the way, N-naruto-kun, I have something to tell you…"

"Yeah, what is it?" Naruto said, turning his head. Cerulean eyes met lavender ones, and Hinata's cheeks turned even redder. She immediately lowered her head.

"Well, y-you see, I-I…" She stuttered, poking her fingers together.

Naruto didn't know what was up with his friend and thought that something was wrong. He put a free hand on Hinata's shoulder and said "C'mon, Hinata, you know you can tell me anything! Believe it!"

By now the Hyuuga heiress' joy was absolute. _He cares for me!_ Her head spinned, and the world turned black as she fainted yet again.

Thankfully Akamaru was there and broke her fall.

"What was up with that?" Naruto wondered aloud as Kiba panicked and started compelling the unconscious kunoichi to get up and off his best friend.

"You're hopeless," Sakura decided, and continued her conversation with Temari and Shikamaru, trying to ignore the squeals, shrieks and screams of "Get off of me!" that were coming from Sasuke's direction, which was not very far.

_A few minutes later…_

Sakura sighed as Temari, who was latched firmly on Shikamaru's arm, finished her story. "Aww, that is soooo sweet! You know, guys, I am completely jealous! Nani, I wish _I_ had my own special someone!" she gushed. "I mean, wouldn't it be nice to have someone you can call your own?"

"Tsk. Yeah, but sometimes it gets too troublesome." Shikamaru said, earning him a bump on the head, courtesy of his girlfriend.

Naruto overheard this exchange, and momentarily abandoned his ramen. "Ne, ne, Sakura-chan! _I_ could be your special someone!"

Sakura looked at the annoying-but-always-there boy she had come to call her best friend. "Naruto, I appreciate that you feel that way about me, but you know I only have eyes for Sasuke."

The boy looked disappointed, and Sakura patted him on the shoulder, as if to comfort him. As she was doing so, their team bishounen somehow managed to escape the rabid fangirls and took his seat between Sakura and Kakashi. He was not without a few scratches, his hair was severely messed up, and his face was full of lipstick marks that would take hours to wash off, even with soap.

Sakura gave him a once-over to see if he had any _real _injuries, and deciding otherwise, gave him a hand towel and returned her attention to the blonde who was still looking glum.

"Besides, Hinata would be heartbroken if I did!"

Naruto's face turned from a look of sadness to one of utter confusion. "Wha-what do you mean?"

Sakura saw an opening to do some matchmaking. But before she can speak, Sasuke spoke for her. "Dobe, she's saying that Hinata has a huge crush on you. It's too obvious, isn't it?" He said, pointing at the blushing, unconscious girl on the floor. "_Why_ she does, however, is beyond my understanding."

Naruto didn't hear the last part- he couldn't believe his ears. It was too impossible.

He turned to Sakura. "Is that true?"

She nodded.

"Since when?"

"Since the academy…"

"But that's-"

"A long time." Sakura and Sasuke said at the same time.

Naruto sat, dumbfounded, for a few seconds. He had been oblivious to this, and couldn't process the fact that Hyuuga Hinata, _the _Hyuuga Hinata, heiress of one of the most powerful clans in the Land of Fire, could possibly have had a crush on him.

It was too much for his consciousness to handle, and soon enough there were two unconscious shinobi on the floor.

Sasuke sweatdropped. 

_Incredible,_ he thought. _He could go into battle head on, but a girl can make him faint?! What a dobe._

Sakura was having the same thought. She let her eyes scan the small ramen shop. Naruto and Hinata were passed out, Sasuke was looking at the bodies with disbelief, and their sensei, who had been completely oblivious to what was happening, was reading his favorite book.

_Speaking of which… _

Sakura didn't know what possessed her. She tapped Kakashi's shoulder. "How about you, sensei? Do _you _have a girlfriend?"

Not looking up from his book, he replied, "No, Sakura, I don't have one. I don't have time for that."

"..."

Right on cue, a female voice met their ears.

"Kakashi?"


	3. Chapter 3: Introductions

* * *

**CHAPTER III**

"Kakashi?"

He stopped reading when he heard her voice. It was unmistakeably hers. He looked up, half-expecting it was someone else. It wasn't. She was standing right outside the ramen shop, the same face he thought he lost 13 long years ago. She stood there with a look of disbelief on her face, a tone of surprise in her voice, and a large gift-wrapped box beside her.

Kakashi blinked once, twice, then a third time for good measure. She didn't look the same; her hair was different, she was taller, and she didn't have the markings on her cheeks anymore…but he was sure who she was.

"Rin?"

"Kakashi! It _is_ you!" She left the box and glomped the wide-eyed jounin.

"Rin! But- I- I thought you were dead!" He said.

She pulled away. "What? 'No welcome back to Konoha, Rin' or 'I missed you, Rin'? Honestly Kakashi, that's no way to greet someone!" She said, turning her back to him, pouting.

Kakashi regained composure when Rin let go. "Sorry, I was just so surprised to see you after all these years… I thought- well…. welcome back, Rin," he said, and he hugged her. Rin's eyes grew wide and she turned even redder than Hinata.

The two still conscious members of team 7, along with almost everyone in the restaurant, froze in their tracks. Ayame dropped the cauldron she was holding, her father's eyes went wide, Sasuke gaped like a fish, and even Inner Sakura's jaw dropped. Temari's ocean-blue pupils dilated and Shikamaru's bored eyes went saucer-wide; Chouji stopped eating, Shino removed his glasses to make sure he wasn't seeing things and Naruto regained consciousness, only to lose it again from the sight of Kakashi, _their_ Kakashi, hugging a beautiful raven-haired kunoichi.

It was a good thing Akamaru was soft like a pillow…

All went silent. Nothing, not a single voice was heard for just a few seconds- a few seconds that seemed to last an eternity.

Sasuke recovered first. "Ahem. Sensei, who is she?"

"This, Sasuke, is an old friend of mine. One I thought I already lost." Kakashi said, letting go of her, albeit reluctantly.

Sakura came to next. In a solicitous voice, she asked, "Kakashi-sensei, I thought you said you didn't _have_ a girlfriend?!"

That woke Rin up. "Wha- you- thought- I was- _say whaat?!_" It was unlike her to stutter, and Kakashi found it almost cute, smiling under his mask. He put down his book.

"Well, you see, they were just talking about relationships, and Sakura here asked me if _I_ had a girlfriend. I said I didn't have one, and that's where you walked in. Naturally, considering my reaction earlier, she thought I was lying and you were my girlfriend. Is that right, Sakura?"

"Uh…yeah." The cherry-blossom haired girl said, as the restaurant returned to normal again. Except for the still-panicking Kiba.

"Ah, I see…"

"By the way, Rin, these are my students," Kakashi said, pointing to each one, "Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and the unconscious blonde is Uzumaki Naruto. Sakura, Sasuke, this is Rin. She was with me and Obito in our team. I think I mentioned them to you before, right?"

"Yeah, sensei, you did."

Sakura approached. "Pleased to meet you, Rin-san. Gomenasai for earlier, I really thought you were Kakashi-sensei's girlfriend. He lies a lot, you see."

At what Sakura said, Naruto once again regained consciousness. Jumping up, he said, "WHAAAT?! Kakashi-sensei's girlfriend?! Where?!" He looked at Rin, then at Kakashi, and with a grin that would put the Cheshire cat to shame, chanted, "SENSEI AND RIN-SAN, SITTING IN A TREE! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!!"

Rin smiled uneasily. Sasuke's brow twitched, and suddenly, almost instantly, Naruto had a huge bump on his head.

"OUCH!! What was that for?!"

"Didn't you hear Sakura, dobe? She's not Kakashi-sensei's girlfriend!"

"Pffft. Teme. I was just teasing…"

"Well you're annoying me."

"So what?!"

And so once again, the Uchiha avenger's and the Jinchuuriki's eyes met and locked in combat, almost exactly like they did before that accidental first kiss, and that time in Amegakure, on their first mission as Team 7.

Noticing the scene, and trying to prevent the battle that would be inevitable if this was left unnoticed, Sakura stood between them, once again acting as the referee.

Rin sweatdropped, the uneasy smile still plastered on her face. Leaning toward Kakashi (who was, by the way, also sweatropping), she asked, "Does this always happen?"

"Almost all the time."

"…"

"…"

"Kinda reminds you of old times, huh?" she asked again, but this time in a more serious tone.

"Yeah." Kakashi said wanly, lowering his eyes.

Rin could see he was hurt, by the memories of times long past. She put a hand on his shoulder, but said nothing. Her simple act of reassurance was worth more than any spoken word.

He smiled, thankful to finally have someone that understands what he was going through, and after a few moments, finally spoke.

"By the way, Rin, where have you been all these years? I missed you!"

Rin never thought he would. Blushing, she removed her hand. "On a mission…"

"What kind?"

"A secret one."

"Ah."

"…"

"So you've finished it, then?"

"Ah, not yet, but after 13 years, I hope I can soon…"

"You're still not done?"

"Yeah."

"Then what brings you back here?"

Rin had an incredulous look on her face. "It _is_ Tsunade-hime's birthday, right?"

"Yeah…"

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. I thought I carried this all the way for nothing!"

Smiling, she added, "Plus, a Kage's birthday is a jounin holiday, remember? All jounins of that village get three days off!"

Beside them, the three genin were still at it, but at the last part of what Rin said, three heads turned slowly towards Kakashi, murderous intent obvious in their respective onyx, cerulean and emerald eyes.

"Three…days…off?" Naruto said through clenched teeth.

Sasuke once again pulled out a weapon-this time a pair of shurikens- and activated his Sharingan.

Sakura just froze, head lowered, a vein popping, fists clenched tightly. For once, Inner Sakura did the same.

Kakashi's visible eye widened. The air grew dense, and even Rin, who knew nothing of what was going on, felt the tension.

Without warning, Sasuke's shurikens sliced through the air, barely missing the copy-nin's head. Kakashi decided to avoid a scuffle, said a quick goodbye to Rin, and doing a couple of hand seals, disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Let's head him off in his apartment!" Naruto exclaimed. He ran up to Rin, and bowing, said goodbye and quickly left. The other two followed suit.

Rin chuckled. "What an interesting team!" She was just about to leave when something small and orange caught her attention. On the table, Kakashi left his Icha-Icha Paradise, probably in his hurry to get away. Rin opened the book and looked at the back of the cover. Sure enough, there was Kakashi's name as the owner of the book.

"He sure has changed a lot…" she said, now laughing. The Kakashi she used to know seemed to be no more, and yet she felt like he hasn't changed a bit. _I'll return it to him the next time we meet_, she decided. She left the store smiling, the book in her pocket, the box behind her, and headed home to the hotel she booked earlier that day. She would go to the Hokage's tower tommorrow.

* * *

In his own apartment, Kakashi was busy turning every part of it upside down, looking for his _Icha-Icha Paradise: Special Collector's Issue_.

* * *

**A/N: There you go, the third chapter!! Thank you, Amentrine Iolite, for giving me my first review! I hope the story is to yours and everyone else's liking! **

**Thanks again and ja ne until the next chappie, where the **_**real**_** story will begin. Don't forget to R&R!!  
**

**Sasuke: **_**-pulls out kunai-**_** If you don't, I'll use this on you!**

**A/N: Sasuke-kun, please don't threaten the readers…**

**Sasuke: But I haven't killed anyone yet!**

**A/N: There's always your Itachi plush toy…**

**Sasuke: **_**-panics- **_**What Itachi plush toy?! I don't have an Itachi plush toy! What are you talking about?!**

**A/N: **_**-rolls eyes- **_**Whatever. **


End file.
